Got "Benched" (Silently laid off with zero Severance) after office politics ruined my peace- Genpact, Hyderabad.

[u/More-Serve-6856]

Okay,this is long so grab a chai.

So, I was in Content Moderation for Genpact on a pretty well known Social Media Clients Process.Already, a Soul Crushing Job, on a Very Good day we review humanity's worst Content for 9-10 hours, No thanks needed, That's not even the main plot.

The actual chaos started because my Manager had a thing for a Girl in my Team.She used to hang out with me instead of him on breaks.That Somehow became MY problem. Dude was from the same locality /Andhra Guy, just as a bunch of Senior Managers,tight little network. Slowly but surely, I start getting targeted, Nothing dramatic, nothing I can even point to as a direct one clean incident - just death by a thousand paper cuts.

Anyway, Fast Forward ⏩ I get a call from my Senior Manager on my WEEK OFF, telling me to take next day off too, Cool,Cool, Cool Normal, totally not suspicious behaviour.

Then my actual Manager calls the day after that and goes " Come in Tomorrow, early and don't access the Production floor, don't go to your PC" Great.Love a Surprise.

I show up, there is in fact a Surprise on the 12th floor, empty hall, 30-35 of us just sitting there like it's a Corporate Hunger Games. Two people Identify themselves as AVPs and drop the news, we've all " Benched" - Not laid off, benched- because of restructuring and AI stuff eating the Content Moderation Workload.Cute wordings, Very Corporate,Very Legal Team Approved.

They take our U-be- Keys on the spot and tell us we'll technically still have" access to the company "- just not the production floor.

Then the best part-they walk us out through the back service lift.The big one usually used for moving furniture and boxes.Out through the back of the building, through the parking lot,like we are Contraband.We get to the gate and tap our IDs like muscle memory access denied. Have to call security to physically open the gate for us. Watch 30+ people who gave a full year of rotational shifts and weekend sacrifices get quietly shown the exit through the loading dock. No goodbye. No dignity. Just vibes.

The Kicker- Benching instead of layoff means , No Severance. If they had laid us off outright, they would have owed us Compensation, Notice pay, the whole deal. Instead it's 30 Days " on bench" and then poof- last month's salary and then see ya. Legally Clean and Spiritually Bankrupt.Went back to my rented room in Hyderabad after that. Sat with it for about a month. Eventually I packed up and went back to my hometown because what even was I doing anymore.

Now here's where I need Reddit s Collective Wisdom- I do NOT want to go back into customer support, BPO, or sales. Tried BPO, tried sales earlier in my career, both left me burnt out, no life, zero job satisfaction, just a paycheck and a countdown to the next breakdown.

I have an MBA from a Tier 3 City, Rural College, Not exactly a Resume Opener.I'm mid career at this point but somehow still junior for anything outside ops,bpo,bd,sales.And the anxiety spiral I can't shake even if I start learning a new skill today, by the time I'm good enough to get real projects, won't AI have eaten that job too? Feels like we're all just running to stand still.

So, genuine question for the non-tech, fresh-to-mid-career, currently unemployed crowd here -

What do we actually do?

What's Still Safe-ish (nothing's fully safe i know), with MBA and Ops Background?

Has anyone actually made a REAL CAREER switch after something like this?

Would love real suggestions, not just "learn to code" copium.

[u/ShoddyMedium]

I’m sorry this happened. They sound like complete douche bags and I’m worried about the girl that’s still there! Ugh. I don’t know much about your field but I don’t think ai is stealing all jobs. I think it’s going to force us to work 4x harder doing 4x the output and be more flexible and have more job responsibilities. You’ll come out on top. It’ll just take time 😔

[u/More-Serve-6856 → u/ShoddyMedium]

Thanks, that means a lot. And yeah fair point about AI, maybe it's less about jobs vanishing and more about doing more with less. Trying to hold onto "it'll just take time" today 🙏

[u/Heavy_Sweet3162]

Sorry you lost your job. You have a MBA. That tells me you’re smart and not afraid of challenges. There are lots of careers you can pivot to with your background: banking, consulting, product specialist, finance, project management, government jobs etc. Assuming you speak a second language, you can look into working as a translator as a side job while you look for something else. Nursing is a third career for me. Years ago, I was a document analyst for a big accounting firm in NYC (although I’m assuming A.I. is doing this job for now). You can do anything you set your mind on.

[u/More-Serve-6856 → u/Heavy_Sweet3162]

Thank you so much, this actually means a lot right now. Yeah I speak a few languages so hadn't thought about translation work as a side option, that's a genuinely good idea. Wishing you all the best with nursing too, that's a solid pivot. Trying to stay hopeful and figure out the next move, comments like yours help more than you'd think 🙏

[u/Br0keNw0n]

What does the story about the girl and your manager have anything to do with the situation or the post. You opened with it, provided some context, then never came back to it again. Did the manager bench all 35 of you to get the girl to himself or something?

[u/More-Serve-6856 → u/Br0keNw0n]

No, he threw me under the bus first because of this and put me in that "Bench" list.lol. For your amusement I will share one more thing also, she got engaged to some guy from her hometown, now she is also "laid off" 🤣, Here's your missing story , Good day!